An approach is provided for controlling ultraviolet-curable gel ink spread of a printed image. The approach involves causing, at least in part, one or more inks to be applied to a first substrate image area by one or more inkjets in a printing zone of a printer, the one or more inkjets being configured to form one or more first ink spots on the first substrate image area. The approach also involves determining a temperature of at least the first substrate image area in the printing zone. The approach further involves determining a first spot size of at least one of the one or more first ink spots. The approach additionally involves causing, at least in part, a temperature of at least a second substrate image area in the printing zone to be based, at least in part, on the determined first spot size.