Toner density control for electrophotographic print engine

A method for measuring toner density in an electrophotographic print engine, comprising:

• providing a photoconductive belt;
• providing an image receptor;
• exposing and developing a first image on the photoconductive belt with a first toner;
• transferring the first image from the photoconductive belt to the image receptor;
• exposing and developing a second image on the photoconductive belt with a second toner, the first toner having higher reflective properties than the first toner;
• transferring the second image from the photoconductive belt to the image receptor such that a portion of the second image overlaps the first image;
• irradiating the overlapping portion of the first and second images with light at a predetermined frequency;
• detecting light reflected from the surface of the overlapping portion of the first and second images;
• and
• determining the density of the second toner in the second image by comparing the level of the detected light with a known reference.

A method for measuring toner density in an electrophotographic print engine, comprising:

• providing an image receptor for receiving developed images;
• modifying the optical properties on the surface of a select portion of the image receptor by disposing a base layer developed image to the select portion of the image receptor, which base layer developed image was developed with a secondary toner;
• disposing a first developed image over the select portion of the image receptor, which first developed image was developed with a primary toner having a first toner density, said primary toner having higher reflective properties than said primary toner;
• and
• measuring the toner denisty of the first developed image by reflecting light off the surface of the first developed image, measuring the intensity of the reflected light and comparing the measured intensity of the reflected light with a reference to determine the density of the primary toner.