An image forming apparatus includes a carriage, an image forming unit, a storage unit, a vibration absorber, and a controller. The carriage reciprocally moves in a main scan direction. The image forming unit is mounted on the carriage. The storage unit stores a speed profile of the carriage. The vibration absorber has controllable vibration reduction characteristics to reduce vibration. The controller controls the vibration reduction characteristics of the vibration absorber in accordance with the speed profile.