System and method of compensating for defective inkjets

An inkjet printer comprising:

• a plurality of operable inkjets and an inoperable inkjet, each one of the operable inkjets being configured to eject ink onto an image receiving surface;
• and
• a controller operatively connected to the plurality of inkjets and the inoperable inkjet, the controller being configured to:
• identify a plurality of pixels in image data to be printed by the inoperable inkjet;
• identify a first location in the image data for storage of a compensation pixel corresponding to one of the plurality of pixels to be printed by the inoperable inkjet, the first location being identified with reference to a predetermined sequence of pixel locations positioned about the one pixel to be printed by the inoperable inkjet;
• identify an overlap parameter for ink to be ejected by the plurality of operable inkjets;
• store the compensation pixel in a second location in the image data in response to the overlap parameter exceeding a predetermined threshold, the second location being a position in the predetermined sequence that is beyond the first location;
• and
• reset the one pixel to be printed by the inoperable inkjet.