Image forming apparatus

An image forming apparatus, comprising:

• an image forming unit that is configured to form an image on a first medium and that is disposed along a first conveying path;
• a heating unit that is configured to heat a second medium and that is disposed along a second conveying path that merges with the first conveying path at a position downstream along a sheet conveying direction with respect to the image forming unit;
• a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium through the first path and the second medium through the second path;
• and
• a control unit configured to set a first mode in which the conveying unit conveys the first medium through the first path and a second mode in which the conveying unit conveys the second medium through the second path.

A method for operating an image forming apparatus comprising:

• an image forming unit configured to form an image on a first medium at an image forming position;
• a fixing unit configured to fix the image on the first medium by heating the first medium at a first temperature;
• and
• a conveying unit configured to convey the first medium to the fixing unit through a first path extending from the image forming position to the fixing unit and convey a second medium to the fixing unit through a second path that merges with the first path at a position between the image forming position and the fixing unit,
• the method comprising:
• determining whether or not the conveying unit is conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path;
• and
• controlling the fixing unit to be a second temperature that is higher than the first temperature, when the conveying unit is determined to be conveying the second medium to the fixing unit through the second path.