1. An apparatus for correcting a misalignment, comprising: a pattern forming unit that forms a misalignment correction pattern on an intermediate transfer body, the misalignment correction pattern including a plurality of patches in which a reference color pattern at a reference position and a correction target color pattern formed in a correction target color are superposed; a sensor that optically reads the misalignment correction pattern formed, the sensor including a first sensing unit configured to read a regular reflection component and a second sensing unit configured to read a diffuse reflection component, wherein the first sensing unit and the second sensing unit are arranged with a light source there-in-between; a detecting unit that detects and identifies the diffuse and regular reflection components optically read by the sensor; a calculating unit that calculates an amount of misalignment of the correction target color with respect to the reference position based on a result of detection by the detecting unit; and a correcting unit that corrects the misalignment of the correction target color based on the amount of misalignment calculated.