A method for controlling a thermal printhead of a printer. The printhead comprises an array of printing elements. The method may comprise performing a plurality of printing operations, each printing operation comprising energisation of one or more printing elements. A respective energisation value is determined for each printing element based upon energisations of that printing element during said printing operations. A printhead control signal is generated for the printhead for a subsequent printing operation based upon the energisation values of a predetermined subset of the printing elements.