According to an embodiment of the present invention, an image forming apparatus includes an image forming section to fix a developer image to a sheet material and to output it, a control unit that is provided independently of the image forming section and supplies image data and an image output condition to the image forming section, and an operation section that is provided independently of the image forming section and the control unit, and outputs a control signal for supplying the image data and the image output condition to the image forming section.