Image reading apparatus

An image reading apparatus for synthesizing an original image composed of an image area and a non-image area with a separate image and emitting the synthesized image in such a manner as to be printed on a sheet, comprising:

• a first detector which detects a width of a first margin outside the original image appearing as the difference between the sheet and the original image when the original image is printed on the sheet;
• a second detector which detects a width of a second margin outside the image area appearing as the difference between the sheet and the image area inside the original image when the original image is printed on the sheet;
• a comparator which compares a width of the separate image subjected to synthesis with the width of the first margin detected by said first detector;
• and
• a controller which shifts and emitts as an output the position for printing the original image when the width of the separate image is smaller than the width of the first margin and shifts and emitts as an output the position for printing the image area within the original image when the width of the separate image is larger than the width of the first margin.