A system and method for image correction in a direct marking system is provided using input scaling. The system and method utilize spatial dependent scale factors for each color of a liquid ink printer in the direct marking system. The value of each scale factor depends upon the ratio of the target mass to the average mass of the ink drops in the region to be corrected. The target mass is typically equal to or near the lowest average mass to insure that all regions can be adjusted to common output color. All input values received by the direct marking system and corresponding to a region to be corrected are multiplied by the appropriate scale factor to correct for drop volume variations among different printheads of the direct marking system. Each printhead includes a plurality of ejectors for depositing ink on a recording medium.