1. A recording-material identifying apparatus comprising: an illuminating unit configured to illuminate a recording material with light; a pressing member configured to press the recording material to form, in the recording material, a first pressing area and a second pressing area, a pressing force in the second pressing area being smaller than that in the first pressing area; an image-pickup unit configured to pick up light reflected by a surface of the recording material that is illuminated by the illuminating unit and is pressed by the pressing member as images of the recording material; and a control unit configured to identify the type of the recording material based on the images in the first pressing area and the second pressing area that are picked up by the image-pickup unit.