Image forming method and image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member to bear a latent electrostatic image;
• an irradiator to irradiate the image bearing member to form the latent electrostatic image thereon;
• a development device to develop the latent electrostatic image with a development agent comprising toner to obtain a toner image;
• a transfer device to transfer the toner image onto a transfer medium;
• and
• a fixing device to fix the toner image on the transfer medium;
• wherein the fixing device comprises:
• a heating roller;
• a fixing roller having an elastic layer, which is arranged in parallel with the heating roller;
• a toner heating medium having an endless form stretched around the heating roller and the fixing roller;
• and
• a pressure roller having an elastic layer, which presses the fixing roller via the toner heating medium while rotating to form a nipping portion with the fixing roller,
• wherein the toner comprises:
• a toner binder comprising:
• a crystalline resin comprising:
• a polyester resin A having a crystallinity;
• a non-crystalline resin comprising:
• a non-crystalline resin B comprising:
• a component insoluble in chloroform;
• and
• a non-crystalline resin C having a softening point (T1/2) 25° C. or more lower than that of the non-crystalline resin B;
• and
• a complex resin comprising a complex resin D comprising:
• a condensation polymerization resin unit;
• and
• an addition polymerization resin unit,
• wherein the toner has a main peak in a range of from 1,000 to 10,000 in a molecule weight distribution as measured for a component soluble in tetrahydrofuran (THF) by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with a half value width of 15,000 or less.