A paper feeder comprises a paper pick up mechanism, feeding rollers for receiving the paper supplied from the pick up mechanism and transporting the paper to an image transfer position for a toner image formed on a photosensitive drum and rotated along with the photosensitive drum, a stepping motor for driving the photosensitive drum and the feeding rollers, and drive pulse generator for sequentially generating drive pulses to be supplied to the stepping motor. The paper feeder further comprises a paper feeding controller for controlling the operation of the paper pick up mechanism in accordance with the number of the drive pulses generated from the drive pulse generator.