PURPOSE: To unnecessitate developing and fixing operations and enable a scanning on the surface of a solid body by a method wherein a liquid ink is held on the surface of a member in the form of plural individual ink droplets, which are attracted toward recording paper under an electric field.

CONSTITUTION: A belt 1 is provided on conductive layer 2 with a layer 4 unwettable to ink 3 and with holes 5 for accumulating the ink 3 therein. The belt 1 is driven in the direction of arrow A by feed rollers 8, 9, and the ink 3 in a container 6 is fed into the holes 5 through a feed roller 7. Then, with a switch 13 closed, a voltage from a power source 12 is applied between the conductive layer 2 and a conductive roller 10, and the ink contained in the holes 5 near the roller 10 is attracted toward printing paper 11, thereby conducting the printing on the paper 11. The holes 5 from which the ink 3 has been partly or entirely removed are filled again with the ink 3 upon contacting the feed roller 7. When the switch 3 is open, the ink 3 is not attracted toward the recording paper 11 but is allowed to pass between the paper 11 and the belt 1.