An ink jet printing method and an ink jet printing apparatus are provided which minimize an area to be printed that overruns from edge portions of the print medium, even for an irregular-shaped print medium. The printing apparatus has an overrunning ink reception opening formed in the platen as a notched portion to accommodate ink ejected beyond the edges of the print medium. When the edge portions of an irregular-shaped print medium are to be printed, a control is made to accommodate almost all volume of ink ejected beyond the edge portions is accommodated in the overrunning ink reception opening. With this arrangement the amount of ink ejected from the edge portions of even the irregular-shaped print medium can be adjusted so that the interior of the platen and printing apparatus can be prevented from being contaminated and a wasteful ink consumption minimized, thus realizing a satisfactory “marginless printing.”