SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR OPTIMIZED INK SPREAD ACROSS MEDIA RANGE IN AQUEOUS INKJET PRINTING

1 . A system, comprising:

printheads configured to apply ink marks to a sheet of media;

a sensor configured to scan the sheet of media to obtain scan data; and

a processor configured to analyze the scan data to (i) determine whether an amount of ink spread on at least one side of the sheet of media is within a range of values, and or (ii) determine whether a difference between a first average line width associated with a first side of the sheet of media and a second average line width associated with a second side of the sheet of media is greater than a threshold value;

wherein the system is configured to perform a print job in a manner selected based on results of the analyzing.

2 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the print job is performed in a default manner when (i) the amount of ink spread on the at least one side of the sheet of media falls outside the range of values and or (ii) the difference between the first and second average line widths is less than the threshold value.

3 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the print job is performed in a non-default manner when (i) the amount of ink spread on the at least one side of the sheet falls within the range of values, and or (ii) the difference between the first and second average line widths is greater than the threshold value.

4 . The system according to claim 3 , wherein the non-default manner comprises performing a paper-specific treatment prior to an application of ink marks to another sheet of media.

5 . The system according to claim 4 , wherein the paper-specific treatment comprises applying heat to the another sheet of media using at least one dryer module of the printing system.

6 . The system according to claim 5 , wherein the another sheet of media travels along a media path of the printing system two times when the print job is a Simplex print job and three times when the print job is a Duplex print job.

7 . The system according to claim 3 , wherein the non-default manner comprises using a drop size associated with one of a plurality of average line width differences that has a value less than the threshold value.

8 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to cause a pre-drying of media during performance of the print job when the results of the analyzing indicates that the amount of ink spread on a first side of the sheet of media falls outside the range of values and the amount of ink spread on a second side of the sheet of media falls within the range of values.

9 . The system according to claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to perform a normalization routine prior to performance of the print job when the difference between the first and second average line widths is greater than the threshold value.

10 . The system according to claim 9 , wherein the normalization routine comprises decrementing a drop size until a difference between an average line width associated with a first side of another sheet of media and an average line width associated with a second side of another sheet of media falls below the threshold value.

11 . The system according to claim 10 , wherein edge dithering is performed during the normalization routine.

12 . A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more programming instructions that when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

control printheads to apply ink marks to a sheet of media;

control a sensor to generate scan data by scanning the sheet of media;

analyze the scan data to (i) determine whether an amount of ink spread on at least one side of the sheet of media is within a range of values, and or (ii) determine whether a difference between a first average line width associated with a first side of the sheet of media and a second average line width associated with a second side of the sheet of media is greater than a threshold value; and

control a printer to perform a print job in a manner selected based on results from analyzing the scan data.

13 . A method for operating a printing system, comprising:

applying, by printheads of the printing system, ink marks to a sheet of media;

scanning, by a sensor of the printing system, the sheet of media to obtain scan data;

analyzing, by a processor of the printing system, the scan data to (i) determine whether an amount of ink spread on at least one side of the sheet of media is within a range of values, and or (ii) determine whether a difference between a first average line width associated with a first side of the sheet of media and a second average line width associated with a second side of the sheet of media is greater than a threshold value; and

performing a print job by the printing system in a manner selected based on results of the analyzing.

14 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the print job is performed in a default manner when (i) the amount of ink spread on the at least one side of the sheet of media falls outside the range of values and or (ii) the difference between the first and second average line widths is less than the threshold value.

15 . The method according to claim 13 , wherein the print job is performed in a non-default manner when (iii) the amount of ink spread on the at least one side of the sheet falls within the range of values, and or (iv) the difference between the first and second average line widths is greater than the threshold value.

16 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the non-default manner comprises performing a paper-specific treatment prior to an application of ink marks to another sheet of media.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the paper-specific treatment comprises applying heat to the another sheet of media using at least one dryer module of the printing system.

18 . The method according to claim 17 , wherein the another sheet of media travels along a media path of the printing system two times when the print job is a Simplex print job and three times when the print job is a Duplex print job.

19 . The method according to claim 15 , wherein the non-default manner comprises using a drop size associated with one of a plurality of average line width differences that has a value less than the threshold value.

20 . The method according to claim 13 , further comprising performing a normalization routine prior to performing the print job when the difference between the first and second average line widths is greater than the threshold value, wherein the normalization routine comprises decrementing a drop size until a difference between an average line width associated with a first side of another sheet of media and an average line width associated with a second side of another sheet of media falls below the threshold value.