The present invention provides for selective droplet dispersion. The selective droplet dispersion technique of the present invention is used to optimize image quality from a continuous ink jet printer. Initially, a pixel to be printed is identified, and then placement of droplets within the pixel to be printed is selected to optimize image quality. The selection can be unconditional, wherein the placement of droplets is not dependent on neighboring pixels. Such selection includes printing first or last available droplets, or centering the droplets within the pixel to be printed. The selection can also be conditional, wherein placement of droplets is dependent on surrounding pixels. Such selection includes providing data from at least one surrounding pixel relative to the identified pixel and using the surrounding pixel data to select droplet placement within the identified pixel.