US Patent 7199888 Method for enhanced black in draft mode

A method of improving black print quality in a color printer having at least one color ink and black ink includes determining a location on a substrate where a black pixel is to be printed, printing a droplet of color ink at the location, and printing a droplet of black ink with the color droplet. If the color printer includes cyan, magenta and yellow, then a droplet of cyan ink, magenta ink or yellow ink may be printed with the droplet of black ink. For images containing black at a plurality of locations, the cyan, magenta and yellow droplets may be equally distributed among the plurality of locations. Alternatively, the cyan, magenta and yellow droplets may be distributed in accordance with a digital halftone screen.