Ink and media treatment to affect ink spread on media treated with primer in an inkjet printer

A printer comprises an applicator, a primer dryer, a plurality of printheads, an auxiliary dryer configured to at least partially dry ink ejected by the plurality of printheads, a main dryer configured to dry ink ejected by the plurality of printheads, a media transport configured to move media past each of these components, and a controller. The controller operates the applicator to apply a predetermined amount of primer to a surface of media, the primer dryer at a predetermined temperature to dry the primer, the plurality of printheads to eject ink to the surface of media, the auxiliary dryer at a predetermined temperature to at least partially dry the ink ejected by the printheads to control the spread of ink, and the main dryer to dry the ink image. The controller uses a plurality of set points corresponding to printing process parameters identified for each print job.