PURPOSE: To attain excellent recording reproducing color by providing the priority on each image so as to prevent an image with other lower priority from being superimposed on a partial space, where at least one bit is standing, of a memory space storing the image having the highest priority.

CONSTITUTION: When a control circuit 5 confirms that 1 bit is standing, an output of a data of a partial space corresponding to a graphic image is inhibited in the partial space. Conversely, when all bits of the character image in the partial space are "0", the output is not inhibited. The operation like this is repeated for each partial space of a prescribed area. The bit data is outputted as it is at an area where two images are not overlapped. The bit data in the partial space is not outputted at the part where the bit output value is not inhibited at the overlapped part. Thus, only the character pattern is recorded in the area where two images are overlapped on the recording paper, and each respective image pattern is recorded in other areas. As a result, a picture with good quality is recorded.