A method of printing an image on a substrate effected by moving the substrate past a print head during a printing operation and printing the image by printing a plurality of strokes. Printing each stroke includes emitting a plurality of drops of ink from the print head. The method includes receiving image data defining an image to be printed, the image data including data relating to a characteristic of the image; selecting printer control data defining the plurality of drops of ink which are to be emitted from the print head to print a stoke, the selecting being based upon data indicating a maximum number of drops of ink which can be emitted from the print head during a stroke and the characteristic of the image; and printing the image based upon the data defining the image to be printedand the printer control data.