PURPOSE: To use the same thermal head for forming a printing pattern in both of a rough paper mode and a usual paper mode, in a second printing mode directly transferring a necessary ink pattern to a printing object from an ink ribbon, by moving a first thermal head to the position of a second thermal head.

CONSTITUTION: A thermal head 7 is made revolvable around a point A in the direction shown by an arrow and reciprocally movable between a position for a usual paper mode shown by a solid line and a position for a rough paper mode shown by a broken line. In printing at the time of the rough paper mode, a printing signal is applied to a first thermal head 7A of a broken line and, in printing at the time of the usual paper mode, the printing signal is applied to a thermal head 7B of a solid line. The difference between the length of a marker 11B and that of a marker 11A is made equal to the distance of the positional shift of the thermal heads 7A, 7B in both modes. By this method, 'shift' to home positions in both modes is eliminated. By uniting a second thermal head with an ink cartridge 3B, the movement of the first thermal head 7A becomes easy.