PURPOSE: To reduce running cost and to improve heat efficiency and, further, to prevent the generation of transfer omission, by a method wherein a rotating transfer medium is directly heated by a recording head and, after predetermined transfer was applied to a recording medium, the transfer medium is fed in a pressure contact state for a predetermined time or over a predetermined length.

CONSTITUTION: When recording is started in such a state that a recording head 5 is contacted with the surface of an ink roller 1, a pressure contact belt 3 is rotated by a motor 4 and the ink roller 1 rotates so as to follow said belt 3. Simultaneously with this rotation, the recording head 5 generates heat corresponding to image information and ink reaches the pressure contact part (d) with the rotation of the ink roller 1 while a molten state is held. Simultaneously with this, a supply roller 10 and a timing roller 11 rotate to separate a recording sheet 8 from a cassette 9 one at a time to feed the same to the pressure contact part (d). The ink transferred to the recording sheet 8 is lowered in its temp. in a pressure contact state to be solidified and positively adhered to the recording head.