PURPOSE: To enable to perform a reliable feed against even a distance, by constituting a feeder for a printer such that an end of a paper or a marker is detected, and when a difference between the result and a reference signal exceeds a given value, a feed mechanism drive is controlled.

CONSTITUTION: If an end 2a of a paper 2 passes a paper detector 12, a writing timing signal TS is brought to H, but a detector 6 is in a non-detecting state at a rise time. Therefore, a signal SS corresponding to a dark current of a photo transistor 9 is converted into a digital signal DS which is stored as a reference signal BS in a memory 11. If the detector 6 detects the end 2a of the paper, a signal DS of the photo transistor 9 is inputted to a comparator 13 to compare it with the reference signal BS. If the difference exceeds a set value, a signal OS is outputted to a motor drive control circuit 14 to instruct a stop of a motor 4. This causes the paper to be controlled so that it is normally located in a given position.