Shutdown for an ink jet printer

The present invention relates to continuous ink jet printing and, more particularly, to an improved shutdown sequence for continuous ink jet printers. A system and method are provided for improving the reliability for shutting down high resolution ink jet printheads for continuous ink jet printers. The shutdown technique fo the present invention solves the problem of ink and/or flush fluid drying in or around orifice holes on higher resolution printheads. This is accomplished with pulse modulation of air pressure used to blow and dry the printhead filters while balancing air flow and negative pressure across the droplet generator and the orifice array.