PURPOSE: To improve the quality of drawing by a recording device which uses a recording pen in the beginning, by starting normal drawing after trial drawing in a trial drawing area provided outside of a recording area.

CONSTITUTION: Once a recording devcie is powered up, an internally provided control circuit judges that a recording pen 6 is disused for a long period, and sets trial drawing mode. In trial drawing mode, an arm 4 moves onto a trial drawing form 3 to perform trial drawing by the pen 6. On the trial drawing, normal drawing on recording paper 2 is performed on the basis of drawing information supplied successively. Thus, the trial drawing is carried out, so troubles due to the drying of the pen tip and the sticking of dust are eliminated to perform clear recording even in the beginning of recording. Thus, the quality of drawing in the beginning is improved.