Patent ID: 8741529

Claim:
An image forming method comprising: forming an electrostatic latent image on an image bearing member; developing the electrostatic latent image with a first developer including a color toner and a carrier, and a second developer including a transparent toner and a carrier to form a color toner image and a transparent toner image on the image bearing member; transferring the color toner image and the transparent toner image to a recording material optionally via an intermediate transfer medium; and fixing the color toner image and the transparent toner image on the recording material, wherein the color toner includes a polyester resin and a colorant, and has a viscoelastic property such that loss tangent (tan δ) of the color toner, which is defined as a ratio (G″)/(G′) of loss modulus (G″) to storage modulus (G′), has a maximum peak at a temperature of from 80° C. to 160° C., and is not greater than 3 at the maximum peak, and the transparent toner includes a crystalline polyester resin, and has a viscoelastic property such that loss tangent (tan δ) of the transparent toner has a maximum peak at a temperature of from 80° C. to 160° C., and is not less than 3 at the maximum peak.