A method for reduction of differential gloss as found in hardcopy image prints. The method comprises selecting a first halftone having a high apparent gloss characteristic and a second halftone having a low apparent gloss characteristic while retaining an identical matching density characteristic to the first selected halftone. a A determination is then made of which areas of the halftone image correspond to potentially high gloss and low gloss regions under normal printing conditions. The first halftone is applied to those portions of the halftone image determined as corresponding to potentially low gloss regions, and the second halftone is applied to those portions of the halftone image determined as corresponding to potentially high gloss regions of the halftone image.