Patent ID: 6853392

Claim:
An image forming apparatus that forms a multi-color image by superposing a plurality of monochrome images, comprising: a plurality of image forming units corresponding to respective colors, each of which forms said corresponding monochrome image; a plurality of pattern forming units corresponding to the respective colors, each of which forms a predetermined compensation pattern; a plurality of pattern position detecting units corresponding to the respective colors, each of which detects the position of said compensation pattern formed by said pattern forming unit of the corresponding color; and a plurality of image position adjusting units corresponding to the respective colors, each of which adjusts the position of said monochrome image to be formed by said image forming unit based on the position of said compensation pattern detected by said pattern position detecting unit of the corresponding color; wherein said compensation pattern is formed under an image forming condition adjustable independently from an image forming condition with which said monochrome image formed by said image forming unit of the corresponding color is formed.