Image recording apparatus which compensates for a defective recording area

An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a recording medium by causing a recording head having an arrangement of a plurality of recording elements to scan the recording medium, said apparatus comprising:

• recording means for causing the recording head to scan the recording area of the recording medium plural times for recording,
• wherein, during scans by said recording means, the recording head partially overlaps the area previously scanned by the recording head, and the recording area scanned by said recording means is recorded by a plurality of different recording elements;
• reading means for reading a recorded image recorded on the recording medium by scanning the recording area of the recording medium together with the recording head when the recording is executed by said recording means;
• determining means for discriminating a defectively recorded area by comparing the recorded image read by said reading means and the image information to be recorded;
• complementary recording means for causing complementary recording of the defectively recorded area discriminated by said determining means at the time of a subsequent scanning by the recording head;
• and
• a complementary head for recording complementarily the defectively recorded area discriminated by said determining means subsequent to the recording by said recording means by scanning the recording area of said recording medium following said reading means.