PURPOSE: To attain and preserve a hard copy by extracting and storing a picture with the operation of a switch and copying it in accordance with the speed of a copying device at a copy forming time.

CONSTITUTION: A picture whose hard copy is required is extracted optionally by the operation of a switch 7 and is stored in a storage device 4. The write operation to the storage device 4 is performed in a speed which follows up sufficiently the picture signal, and the picture can be stored completely even if the switch 7 is operated continuously with intermission. When the hard copy is formed, contents of the storage device 4 are read out in a speed matched to that of a device 9.