In thermal ink transfer printing, a layer of thermally fusable binder is deposited on a recording sheet prior to the transfer print of thermally fusable ink from a transfer sheet to provide a strong bond between the underlying recording sheet and the overlying ink deposits. In one embodiment, layers of thermally fusable ink and binder material are deposited on the base of a common transfer sheet in alternate fashion. The binder layer is initially positioned above a thermal head and the latter is heated so that the binder is fused and transferred to the recording sheet. The recording sheet and transfer sheet are advanced together with respect to the head so that the recording sheet is entirely covered with a layer of the binder material. Thereafter, the binder-coated recording sheet comes into contact with the ink layer and the thermal head is controlled to heat portions of the ink layer for transfer to the binder-coated surface of the recording sheet.
