An excess toner removal area is made broader over the whole area with
respect to a developer applied area that is broader than an image
effective area. Thereby a liquid developer, that tends to spread slightly
broader than the applied area after being applied to a photoreceptor drum,
is removed by a sweep roller that can sweep excess toner present in an
area broader than the original applied area and an excess toner remaining
area is then prevented from being formed on the photoreceptor drum.
Accordingly, the excess toner on the latent image carrier is removed as
much as possible, and a transfer medium and peripheral members are
prevented from being soiled due to residual excess toner.