a printer uses a rotating platen to transport a sheet of print media receiver across a print head . the receiver is held to the platen with a positive receiver locking clamp at the beginning of a print cycle . the clamp is released prior to the completion of formation of an image on the receiver so that the receiver can be quickly removed from the platen . this reduces the print cycle time of the printer . the clamp is configured and operated such that the speed of the moving receiver is not changed when the clamp is released . the clamp configuration and operation permit the printing of high - resolution images without any discernible distortions caused by the release of the clamp during the image formation .