The image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an image forming member that jets liquid droplets onto a recording medium and forms an image on a front face of the recording medium, a tension imparting member that induces tension of 100 N/m to 1000 N/m in the recording medium image-formed on the recording medium front face by the image forming member, and a drying member that dries the image formed on the front face of the recording medium when tension induced in the recording medium by the tension imparting member to a residual moisture level of 3 g/m2 or less in the recording medium.