A color printing apparatus forms a series of electrostatic images on an image drum, tones them with different color toners and transfers the toner images to a receiving sheet to form multicolor images. The beginning and end of transfer of each image create mechanical discontinuities in the motion of the drum because of engagement and disengagement of the receiving sheet or its edges in a pressure transfer nip. The image-forming process is designed so that significant image scanning does not occur during the discontinuities.