Self-calibrating printer and printer calibration method

1. A method for operating a printer, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a print order associated with image data for use in printing a plurality images;

converting the image data into actions to print the plurality of images on a receiver medium with print adjacent areas between the printed images, the converting being performed in accordance with printer settings;

printing a first set of color patches in the print adjacent areas when each of the first set of calibration color patches can be printed in the print adjacent areas;

printing a second set of color patches in the print adjacent areas when each of the first set of color patches cannot be printed in the print adjacent areas; and,

sensing the color of each printed color patch and recalibrating the printer settings based upon the sensed colors so that specific colors are printed in response to particular image data;

wherein there are fewer color patches in the second set of color patches than in the first set of color patches and wherein the first set of color patches and the second set of color patches are printed such that the color patches are in more than one of the print adjacent areas.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a first algorithm is used to recalibrate the printer settings when the first set of calibration color patches is printed and wherein a second algorithm is used to recalibrate the printer settings when the second set of calibration patches is printed.

3. A method for operating a printer, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a print order associated with image data for use in printing a plurality images;

converting the image data into instructions to print the plurality of images on a receiver medium with a print adjacent area between the printed images, said converting being performed in accordance with printer settings that relate particular image data with printer code values that are used in causing specific colors to be printed;

determining a number of print adjacent areas that will exist when the images are printed;

printing the images according to the instructions;

printing a first set of color patches within the print adjacent areas when the number of print adjacent areas is within a first range;

printing a second set of color patches within the print adjacent areas when the number of print adjacent areas is within a second range, said second range being lower than the first range; and,

sensing the color of each printed color patch and determining whether to recalibrate the printer settings based upon the sensed colors so that the particular colors are printed in response to particular image data,

wherein the set of color patches that is printed in the print adjacent areas is printed such that less than all of the color patches of the printed set are recorded in each print adjacent area and such that all of the color patches of the printed set are printed in the print adjacent areas.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising the step of expanding the size of at least one of the print adjacent areas when it is determined that the number of print adjacent areas is below the first range, but within a range that is proximate thereto, said additional area being sized to receive additional printed color patches so that the first set of color patches can be printed in the print adjacent areas.

5. A method for operating a printer, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a print order associated with image data for use in printing a plurality images;

converting the image data into instructions to print the plurality of images on a receiver medium with a print adjacent area between the printed images, said converting being performed in accordance with printer settings that relate particular image data with printer code values that are used in causing specific colors to be printed;

determining a number of print adjacent areas that will exist when the images are printed;

printing the images according to the instructions, and

printing a first set of color patches within the print adjacent areas when the number of print adjacent areas is within a first range;

printing a second set of color patches within the print adjacent areas when the number of print adjacent areas is within a second range, said second range being lower than the first range;

sensing the color of each printed color patch and determining whether to recalibrate the printer settings based upon the sensed colors so that the particular colors are printed in response to particular image data; printing a calibration verification color patch in one of the print adjacent areas when the number of print adjacent areas is below the second range;

sensing the color of the calibration verification color patch;

determining whether to recalibrate the printer settings based upon the sensed color; and

storing data suggesting that recalibration of the printer settings is to be performed when the sensed color of the calibration verification color patch does not correspond to the code value used to print the calibration verification color patch.

6. A printer comprising:

a print engine adapted to apply donor material onto a receiver medium;

a medium transport adapted to position the print engine and receiver medium relative to each other;

a color light sensor positioned to sense printed colors on the receiver medium; and,

a processor adapted to receive a print order and to obtain a plurality of images for printing and to cause said print engine and medium transport to cooperate to print the plurality of images on the receiver medium with a print adjacent area between the printed images, said processor further being operable to cause color patches of a selected color patch set to be printed in the print adjacent areas associated with the plurality of printed images such that each print adjacent area contains no more than one of the printed color patches;

said processor using the color light sensor to sense the colors of the color patches and to determine revised printer settings based upon a comparison of the sensed colors and the colors that the processor instructed the print engine to print in the sensed color patches;

wherein the processor selects the set of color patches from among a plurality of color patch sets based by selecting a first patch set when all of the color patches of the first color patch set can be printed in the print adjacent areas, and selecting a second color patch set when all of the color patches of the first color patch set cannot be printed in the print adjacent areas.

7. A method for operating a printer that prints images in accordance with printer settings, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a print order associated with image data for use in printing a plurality of images;

printing the plurality of images on the receiver medium with print adjacent areas between the printed images;

printing at least one color patch of a set of calibration color patches in each print adjacent area, such that each of the colors in the calibration color patch set are printed as the images are printed, with each color patch being of one color and having a size that allows a color sensing system to determine the color of the patch;

wherein the receiver medium is moved along a printing path for printing and the different color patches are aligned with each other along the printing path; and

wherein movement of the receiver medium along the printing path brings all of the printed color patches of the color patch set past the color light sensor without requiring movement of the receiver medium or color light sensor relative to each other along another path.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising the steps of sensing a color of the color patch and comparing the sensed color to stored information reflecting the color that the printer was instructed to print in sensed color patch to verify that the printer is calibrated for printing.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of printing at least one color patch of a set of calibration color patches in each print adjacent area further comprises the steps of printing at least one of a first set of color patches and a second set of color patches in the print adjacent areas.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein a selection between the first and second set of color patches is made based upon the number of print adjacent areas that will be formed when the images are printed and based upon the number of color patches that can be printed in each print adjacent area.

11. A printer comprising:

a print engine adapted to apply donor material across a width of a receiver medium;

a medium transport adapted to advance the receiver medium lengthwise past the print engine and to further advance the receiver medium lengthwise along the first path to a color light sensor that is positioned to sense one color representative of a portion of the width of the receiver medium to which the color light sensor is exposed;

a processor adapted to receive a print order, to obtain a plurality of images for printing and to cause said print engine and medium transport to cooperate to print the plurality of images on the receiver medium with a print adjacent area between the printed images, said processor further being operable to cause color patches of a selected color patch set to be printed in the print adjacent areas associated with the plurality of printed images such that each color donor patch can be positioned for sensing by lengthwise movement of the receiver medium; and,

said processor using the color light sensor to sense the color of each color patch positioned for sensing and determining revised printer settings based upon a comparison of the sensed colors and the colors that the processor instructed the print engine to print in the sensed color patches;

wherein the processor selects the set of color patches from among a plurality of color patch sets by selecting a first patch set when all of the color patches of the first color patch set can be printed in the print adjacent areas, and selects a second color patch set when all of the color patches of the first color patch set cannot be printed in the print adjacent areas.

12. The printer of claim 11 , wherein the processor further selects the set of printed color patches from a plurality of sets of printed color patches based upon the number of print adjacent areas remaining between the then unprinted images of the print order.

13. The printer of claim 11 , wherein the processor further stores data in a memory of the printer indicating that a recalibration process should be performed, so that during a later printing process the processor can cause a selected set of color patches to be printed in the print adjacent areas and used for recalibrating the printer settings.

14. The printer of claim 11 , wherein the processor further determines the selected set of color patches based upon the sensed color of the calibration verification color patch.