US Patent 7315317 Printer

A printer includes a conveyance mechanism capable of conveying a long recording medium in a first direction from a supply unit storing therein the recording medium, toward an image recording unit capable of recording a color image on the recording medium, and in a second direction reverse to the first direction, with opposing the recording medium to the image recording unit; and a cutting unit capable of cutting the recording medium between the image recording unit and the supply unit. The conveyance mechanism is controlled to convey the recording medium in the first direction until a leading edge of the recording medium reaches a position distant in the first direction from the image recording unit, and then convey the recording medium in the second direction; and to form a slack portion of the recording medium being conveyed in the second direction, between the image recording unit and the cutting unit. The image recording unit is controlled to record frames of color images on the recording medium being conveyed in the second direction by the conveyance mechanism. The cutting unit is controlled to cut the recording medium being conveyed in the second direction.