A toner is provided including a mother toner including a crystalline polyester resin, an amorphous resin, and a wax, and an external additive in an amount of from 0.30 to 0.55 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the mother toner. The toner satisfies the following equation 0.36.ltoreq.(2.77.times.C/R+1.97.times.W/R)/X.ltoreq.1.85, wherein each of C, W, and R represents a height of an absorbance peak specific to the crystalline polyester resin, the wax, and the amorphous resin, respectively, measured by a FT-IR ATR method, and X represents an amount (parts by weight) of the external additive. An image forming method and apparatus using the toner are also provided.