PURPOSE: To print a sharp black character having no color shift by setting respective color ribbons to the length corresponding to one picture and providing a black ribbon having a length smaller than that of one picture so as to be adjacent to one of the color ribbons and performing printing outside the limit of one picture.

CONSTITUTION: A color ink ribbon is constituted so that black ribbons 14 for detecting the position of the color ribbon are provided cyclically one at a time to one set of the Y-ribbon 11, M-ribbon 12 and C-ribbon 13 cyclically arranged to a base material 10 of strip like flexible material quality and each of black ribbons 15 for a character performing printing outside the limit of one picture and having a length smaller than that of one picture is further provided so as to be adjacent to one of the Y-ribbon 11, the M-ribbon 12 and the C-ribbon 13. When printing is performed using the Y-ribbon 11, the M-ribbon 12 and the C-ribbon 13 at the central part, the picture 16 of one color image is obtained by the superposition of the Y-ribbon 11, the M-ribbon 12 and the C-ribbon 13 and a character 17 is obtained by printing using the black ribbon 15 above the Y-ribbon 11 and a character 18 is obtained by printing using the black ribbon 15 under the C-ribbon 13. Therefore, a sharp black character having no color shift can be obtained.