Image forming apparatus, image forming method, and program

An image forming method, comprising:

• sandwiching a reforming sheet including a printing opening and a surface property reforming unit in between a medium to be recorded and a thermal transfer sheet including an ink layer and a protective material layer;
• causing the medium to be recorded, the thermal transfer sheet, and the reforming sheet to travel in a predetermined direction;
• thermally transferring the ink layer onto the medium to be recorded to form a printing layer by enabling a printing position of the medium to be recorded and the ink layer to be aligned with the printing opening;
• thermally transferring the protective material layer onto the medium to be recorded to form a protection layer by enabling the printing position of the medium to be recorded and the protective material layer to be aligned with the printing opening;
• and
• pressing the surface property reforming unit on the medium to be recorded through the protective material layer having been thermally transferred by enabling the printing position of the medium to be recorded and the protective material layer to be aligned with the surface property reforming unit, and heating the pressed surface property reforming unit to thereby reform surface property of the protection layer, wherein a region to form the protection layer is expanded to be wider than a region to reform the surface property of the protection layer.

A program for executing, in a computer, an image forming method, the method comprising:

• sandwiching a reforming sheet including a printing opening and a surface property reforming unit in between a medium to be recorded and a thermal transfer sheet including an ink layer and a protective material layer;
• causing the medium to be recorded, the thermal transfer sheet, and the reforming sheet to travel in a predetermined direction;
• thermally transferring the ink layer onto the medium to be recorded to form a printing layer by enabling a printing position of the medium to be recorded and the ink layer to be aligned with the printing opening;
• thermally transferring the protective material layer onto the medium to be recorded to form a protection layer by enabling the printing position of the medium to be recorded and the protective material layer to be aligned with the printing opening;
• and
• pressing the surface property reforming unit on the medium to be recorded through the protective material layer having been thermally transferred by enabling the printing position of the medium to be recorded and the protective material layer to be aligned with the surface property reforming unit, and heating the pressed surface property reforming unit to thereby reform surface property of the protection layer,
• wherein a region to form the protection layer is expanded to be wider than a region to reform the surface property of the protection layer.