A printing system is disclosed. The printing system includes at least one physical memory device to store halftone modification logic and one or more processors coupled with at least one physical memory device to execute the halftone modification logic to receive a first halftone design comprising a first threshold array associated with a plurality of pel forming elements, receive a flush pattern comprising a flushing array defining a plurality of flush drop locations associated with the plurality of pel forming elements and generate a second halftone design based on the first threshold array and the flush pattern, wherein the second halftone design defines the plurality of flush drop locations.