1. An image forming method for forming an image using an electrostatic latent image that is formed by exposing a surface of an image bearer in accordance with an image pattern that includes a plurality of image areas in combination, wherein each of the plurality of image areas includes a plurality of pixels, a part of pixels to be exposed in each of the plurality of image areas is set as a non-exposure pixel group in accordance with a position of any one of the plurality of image areas in the image pattern, and pixels that are different from the non-exposure pixel group in each of the plurality of image areas are set as a high-output exposure pixel group that is exposed with an optical output value that is higher than a predetermined optical output value that is needed to expose the image area.