Image forming apparatus and method

摘要

The image forming apparatus (10, 100) forms an image on a surface of a recording medium (12, 114) by using ink and treatment liquid. The ink contains coloring material, and the treatment liquid contains at least one of a component which aggregates the coloring material and a component which increases viscosity of the ink. The image forming apparatus (10, 100) includes: a repellent agent deposition device (14, 14A, 14B, 14C, 130) which deposits a repellent agent onto the recording medium (12, 114) to render the surface of the recording medium (12, 114) liquid-repellent; a treatment liquid droplet ejection device (16, 136) which ejects and deposits droplets of the treatment liquid onto the recording medium (12, 114) on which the repellent agent has been deposited; and an ink droplet ejection device (20, 108) which ejects and deposits droplets of the ink onto the recording medium (12, 114) on which the droplets of the treatment liquid have been deposited.