Dithered printing of clear ink to reduce rub and offset

An imaging device comprising:

• a media substrate;
• a media supply and handling system configured to move the media substrate along a path;
• a printing system disposed along the path, the printing system including at least one printhead for applying ink of at least one color to the media substrate to form images thereon;
• a fixing assembly disposed along the path or downstream of the printing system, the fixing assembly being configured to apply at least one of pressure and heat to the ink on the substrate to fix the ink to the substrate;
• a coating system disposed along the path downstream from the fixing assembly and printing system, the coating system including at least one printhead configured to maintain a melted clear phase change ink above a solid ink melting temperature and to eject the melted clear phase change ink on top of the images formed on the substrate by the printing system at a first coverage and a second coverage, the first coverage and the second coverage being different from each other and each coverage being less than 50% coverage;
• and
• a controller configured to actuate the at least one printhead of the coating system to eject the melted clear phase change ink at the first coverage or the second coverage.