Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image bearing member;
• a charger to charge the image bearing member;
• an irradiator to expose the image bearing member to light to form a latent electrostatic image thereon;
• a development device comprising an accommodation unit that accommodates toner to develop the latent electrostatic image therewith to obtain a visible image;
• a transfer device to transfer the visible image to a recording medium;
• and
• a fixing device to fix the visible image transferred onto the recording medium, the fixing device comprising:
• a fixing rotation member;
• and
• a pressure rotation member to form a nipping portion by contacting the fixing rotation member,
• wherein a surface pressure of the nipping portion is 1.5 kgf/cm2 or less,
• wherein the fixing rotation member has a Martens hardness of 1.0 N/mm2 or less at 23° C.,
• wherein a ratio of a projected area of a single particle of the toner onto the recording medium at 120° C. to a projected area of a single particle of the toner onto the recording medium at 23° C. is 1.60 or less.