An image forming apparatus records an image on a photosensitive material by controlling a light emission amount from a plurality of light emission elements that each emit light in accordance with a supplied light emission control signal. The apparatus has a control signal generation unit and a first and second signal generation sections and a signal switching section. The control signal generation unit generates a first light amount control signal from a density modulation. The second signal generation section generates an ON/OFF control signal and a second light amount control signal as a pair of signals from a combination of a density modulation and an area modulation. The signal switching section generates a light emission control signal by performing signal switching between the first light amount control signal and the pair of the signals. The exposure by the light emission is overlaid. The second light amount control signal has short pulses having pulse widths shorter than a time constant of the initial rising stage of the light emission.