Selective Treatment Fluid Application for Print Bleed Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Print agent bleeding between regions of high and low saturation in printed images leads to visible quality defects and blurring, particularly in scanning print apparatuses but applicable across various printing technologies.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that selectively deposit treatment fluid, such as a fixer, based on the intended positions of colorant in a half-tone representation of the image, increasing the amount of treatment fluid in regions where high and low saturation areas are adjacent to prevent colorant movement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a relatively large amount of print agent is deposited at a location (high saturation region) adjacent to or near to a location where a relatively smaller amount of print agent has been deposited (low saturation region), then the intended image saturation is achieved, but print agent moves from the high saturation region to the low saturation region causing bleeding
Solution Approach 1:
A barrier fluid is introduced as an intermediary substance between the high saturation region and low saturation region. This barrier fluid prevents direct contact and migration of print agent molecules from the high concentration area to the low concentration area, thereby eliminating the bleeding effect while preserving the intended image saturation.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier fluid is deposited in advance at the boundary locations before the print agent migration can occur. By pre-positioning the barrier fluid at critical interface zones between high and low saturation regions, the system proactively prevents bleeding rather than reacting to it after occurrence.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If treatment fluid is uniformly applied across all print addressable locations, then print agent bleed is reduced, but the complexity of the printing system increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniform application, the treatment fluid is selectively deposited only at specific print addressable locations where high and low saturation regions are adjacent. The system analyzes the image data to identify boundary regions and applies barrier fluid precisely at these locations, reducing unnecessary fluid application and simplifying the overall system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The printing system divides the image into distinct regions based on saturation characteristics, identifying boundaries between high and low saturation areas. Treatment fluid application is segmented to occur only at these identified boundary locations rather than uniformly across the entire print area, optimizing resource usage and reducing system complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is disclosed. The method comprises receiving a matrix representation of a source image to be printed, the matrix representation defining a colorant value for each of a plurality of print addressable locations, wherein the colorant values are representative of amounts of print colorant to be delivered to the print addressable locations during a printing operation. The method may comprise identifying, by processing circuitry, a region in the matrix representation having a first print addressable location and an adjacent second print addressable location, wherein a difference between colorant values of the first print addressable location and the second print addressable location meets or exceeds a defined colorant value threshold. The method may comprise determining, by processing circuitry, an amount of treatment fluid to be delivered to each of the plurality of print addressable locations during the printing operation, wherein an amount of treatment fluid to be delivered in the identified region is determined to be greater than an amount of treatment fluid to be delivered to adjacent print addressable locations having colorant values which differ by less than the defined colorant value threshold. An apparatus and a machine-readable medium are also disclosed.