Electrophotographic color printing method

An electrophotographic printing method for forming an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive medium based on print information, developing the electrostatic latent image with a developing bias voltage applied thereto, and transferring and fixing a developed toner image on a recording medium, thereby forming a color print, said electrophotographic printing method comprising the steps of:

• (a) a latent image forming step of successively forming electrostatic latent images on the photosensitive medium based on color separation of the print information and corresponding respective different colors;
• (b) a wet developing step including a substep of successively developing the electrostatic latent images formed on the photosensitive medium into toner images of different colors and a substep of squeezing surplus liquid toners on the photosensitive medium, said two substeps being repeated a number of times corresponding to the number of colors to be printed in a plane tangent to the photosensitive medium;
• (c) an intermediate transfer step of successively transferring and depositing in layers the toner images of individual colors, developed on the photosensitive medium, on an intermediate transfer medium to form a multicolor toner image thereon;
• and
• (d) a transfer-fixing step of transferring and fixing the multicolor toner image, obtained in said intermediate transfer step, on a recording medium to form a color print, said transfer-fixing step being started when transfer of a last toner image to the intermediate transfer medium is started in said intermediate transfer step;
• said wet developing step including successively developing the electrostatic latent images for the respective colors by means of a plurality of developing units and increasing the developing bias voltage of the developing unit which has finished developing to a voltage closer to the print area surface potential than the white ground surface potential when changing the developing units.