A printing method for a thermal printer having a heat-sensitive recording medium containing a coloring material interposed between a recording paper laid on a platen and a thermal head. For printing, the coloring material is transferred from the recording medium to the paper by the print energy of the thermal head. A low print energy level and a high print energy level are respectively set in advance and during the printing operation energy of the former level is applied to the recording medium while during the correcting operation energy of the former level is applied to the recording medium to bond the printed characters on the recording paper to the recording medium. In preparation for the correcting operation, the thermal head is preheated in its head-up state at which stage it is separated from the platen. Printing and correcting operations are executed on the basis of information on the head surface temperature detected by a temperature sensor.