NIKE, Inc.
METHOD OF PRINTING A CONTOURED OBJECT USING COLOR AND STRUCTURAL LAYERS

Abstract:

A method of printing a three-dimensional color object having a contoured surface onto a substrate includes printing color ink layers and structural ink layers. A color ink layer is printed onto the substrate. Structural ink layers are printed onto the color ink layer to build the three-dimensional shape of the object. The contoured surface is formed from varying the heights of pixel columns in the printing information. The heights of the pixel columns may be varied by printing different numbers of layers in adjacent columns or by printing the same number of layers in adjacent columns where some pixels in a column have different thicknesses than other pixels in the column.