the plain type paper for plain paper the minimum temperature target is between about 20 u00b0 c and about 25 u00b0 c and the maximum temperature target is between about 30 u00b0 c and about 35 u00b0 c step 106 the plain paper temperature target range is a preferred range of printhead temperatures at which to maintain the printhead 20 for optimal print quality when printing on plain type media because ink has a tendency to wick into the fibers of a plain paper type the plain paper tends to absorb more ink than a glossy type medium fig3 depicts the differing ink spot size when printing on plain versus glossy paper for the same temperature the plain paper has an ink spot size ranging from 22 to 35 larger than for the glossy paper accordingly since the ink spreads more readily on the plain paper a lesser amount of ink ejected onto the plain type paper will create substantially the same ink spot size as a greater amount of ink ejected onto the glossy type medium additionally the ink droplet exit velocity is proportional to the ink temperature as a result of the lower printhead temperature any misdirection of ink droplets which may occur due to the lower printhead temperature is not as critical when printing on plain paper since the ink tends to spread out more on the plain paper and mask any ink droplet misdirection therefore a correspondingly lower printhead temperature may be used for the plain type medium than for other mediums without sacrificing print quality when the optical sensor 16 detects a glossy type medium step 108 a corresponding input to the printer controller 12 will set the minimum and a maximum printhead temperature.