1 : An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit that forms, on a recording medium, an image including a special image based on special image data specifying a density value of a special toner that gives a special effect and a color image based on color image data specifying a density value of a color toner; a determining unit that determines whether the image is to be observed from an image formation surface or the image is to be observed from a surface opposite to the image formation surface through the recording medium; and an adjusting unit that performs adjustment to reduce the density value of the special image data based on a result of determination made by the determining unit.