PURPOSE: To effectively use an ink ribbon without wasting the same by supplying the ink ribbon only at the time of printing.

CONSTITUTION: In a printer having a platen 1 and a printing head 2 provided thereto so as to be capable of being brought into contact with each other and separated from each other and passing an ink ribbon 3 and a material 4 to be printed through the gap between the platen 1 and the printing head 2 to perform printing, a drive system bringing the platen 1 to a contact/separated state with respect to the printing head 2 and a drive system supplying the ink ribbon 3 at a speed equal to the feed speed of the material 4 to be printed are controlled so that the ink ribbon 3 is supplied when the platen 1 comes into contact with the printing head 2 and the supply of the ink ribbon 3 is stopped when the platen 1 is separated from the printing head 2 to supply the ink ribbon 3 only at the time of printing.