Thermal printer having shutter unit

A thermal printer comprising:

• a feeder for feeding thermosensitive recording material unwound from a recording material roll through a feeding path;
• a thermal head for thermal recording of an image in a recording region of said recording material being fed;
• a photo fixer for fixing said image on said recording material by application of electromagnetic rays thereto;
• a liquid crystal shutter unit, disposed between said photo fixer and said recording material, and including plural shutter segments, wherein said plural shutter segments are changeable between an opaque state and a transparent state independently from one another, and when in said opaque state, block said electromagnetic rays, and when in said transparent state, cause said electromagnetic rays to pass;
• and
• a controller for controlling said liquid crystal shutter unit in synchronism with said feeder, for setting at least one of said shutter segments in said transparent state if said at least one is opposed to said recording region in feeding of said recording material, and for setting at least one of said shutter segments in said opaque state if said at least one is opposed to an unused region in feeding of said recording material, wherein said unused region is defined upstream from and adjacent to said recording region.