Abstract: A printer has an optical printing head for a line-by-line image forming of design and text information. The printing head has spaced light emitting elements arranged in a row and each having a light emitting surface. The printing head further has an optical device for reproducing the light, emitted by the light emitting elements, in one line on a light sensitive surface. The light emitting surface of each light emitting element has, parallel to the feed direction of the light sensitive surface, a dimension several times the length of image dots to be reproduced on the light sensitive surface. The optical device has an image reproducing first optical lens and a second optical lens situated between the first optical lens and the light sensitive surface for reducing the image of the light emitting surface of each light emitting element to a required light dot size on the light sensitive surface.