The invention relates to a method of printing a compressed image having a bi-level black data layer and a continuous tone (contone) CMYK data layer. The method includes the steps of receiving the image from an image host, expanding the image by decompressing the two data layers in parallel, and halftoning the contone CMYK layer data into a bi-level CMYK data layer. The method also includes the steps of compositing the bi-level black layer over the bi-level CMYK layer to form a composited bi-level CMYK image, and finally printing the composited bi-level CMYK image with a pagewidth printhead onto a print medium.