PURPOSE: To eliminate the complicatedness in the proper use of an ink ribbon and economical inefficiency accompanied by trial printing by automatically setting printing density corresponding to the selection of an ink ribbon usable only once and a repeatedly usable ink ribbon.

CONSTITUTION: When a disc-shape cam member 40 is driven to a predetermined operation position, a printing head 34 is shifted from an inclined retracted position to a printing operation position. Subsequently, a carriage 12 is driven in the direction shown by an arrow A or B to print the first one line of a taken-in document data on a recording paper 84. At this time, the energy of a predetermined level is applied to a printing head 34 and the printing energy suitable for the repeatedly usable ink ribbon in the first ink ribbon cassette 26a is given thereto. Said applied energy is larger than the energy applied in the case of the ink ribbon usable only once in the second ink ribbon cassette 26b. When the printing operation of the document data corresponding to the first one line is finished, the printing head 34 is again returned to the inclined retracted position from the printing operation position.