An image forming apparatus includes a first image carrier forming a black toner image, a plurality of second image carriers forming a yellow, magenta, or cyan toner image, a third image carrier forming a special color toner image, and a transfer target member or an intermediate transfer belt. The apparatus further includes first and second detachment units. The first detachment unit detaches only the third image carrier from the transfer target member, and the second detachment unit detaches the second image carriers and the third image carrier. When switching from a special color image mode to either a normal color image mode or a monochrome image mode is performed during continuous printing of the recording media, the first detachment unit or the second detachment unit controls the detachment operation based on the number of recording media continuously printed by the normal color image mode or the monochrome image mode.