To provide a printing apparatus without waste of a ribbon panel in using a two-side dedicated ribbon, a printing apparatus 1 capable of printing on both surfaces of a printing medium performs two-side printing using an ink ribbon 41 with a color ribbon panel 41a and monochrome ribbon panel 41b configured in a face sequential manner. At this point, the apparatus detects a position of each ribbon panel, judges a type (color or monochrome) of a next usable nearest ribbon panel of the ink ribbon 41, judges which type of the ribbon panel (color or monochrome) is used for printing data sent from a higher apparatus 201, and compares the type of the next usable nearest ribbon panel with the ribbon panel judged with the printing data to determine the printing order on the printing medium.