A printing apparatus is provided with a circulation route through which a print sheet can be circulated a minimum number of times to avoid the overall print process time from being elongated. The circulation route includes an ordinary transportation route CR which transports a print sheet for printing and discharging through a discharge route, and a switchback route SR which is connected to the ordinary transportation route CR as a branch, such that the print sheet can be circulated a plural number of times. The printing apparatus is provided further with a print coverage detecting unit 332c for calculating the print coverage of each print sheet, a circulation repeat number determination unit 332b for determining the number of circulations for each print sheet in accordance with the print coverage, a paper discharge control unit 334a for selectively discharging each print sheet in accordance with the number of circulations.