Ink jet printer improved dot placement technique

An ink jet printer, comprising:

• a printhead;
• a printhead carrier system including a printhead carrier for carrying said printhead, said printhead carrier being transported by a carrier motor in a bi-directional scanning path in a reciprocating manner in a first direction and a second direction, said second direction being opposite to said first direction;
• and
• a controller communicatively coupled to said printhead and said printhead carrier system, said controller executing instructions to perform the steps of:
• storing a plurality of carrier velocities in said controller;
• selecting a first carrier velocity from said plurality of carrier velocities for printing in said first direction;
• and
• selecting a second carrier velocity from said plurality of carrier velocities for printing in said second direction, said second carrier velocity being different from said first carrier velocity,
• wherein said plurality of carrier velocities are selected to reduce vertical banding defects in said ink jet printer.

A method of printing in a printer having a printhead carrier, said printhead carrier being driven to scan in a first direction and a second direction opposite to said first direction, comprising the steps of:

• identifying a base carrier velocity;
• selecting a first carrier velocity;
• selecting a second carrier velocity, different from said first carrier velocity, wherein an average of said first carrier velocity and said second carrier velocity is substantially equal to said base carrier velocity;
• selecting one of said first carrier velocity and said second carrier velocity for scanning said printhead carrier in said first direction;
• and
• selecting the other of said first carrier velocity and said second carrier velocity for scanning said printhead carrier in said second scan direction.