Abstract: Image data is read by an image reading unit (21) and is supplied to a first storage unit (22) in which the received image data is written onto a removable storage medium (23), e.g., magnetic tape. The removable storage medium (23) is then removed from the first storage unit (22) and its contents are transferred to a second storage unit (26) which uses nonremovable storage medium, e.g., a hard disk. An image editing unit (24) is coupled to the second storage unit (26) and constantly fetches and edits the image data therein to create edited image data. Thus, image reading processing by means of the image reading unit (21) and image editing processing executed by means of the image editing unit (24) can proceed simultaneously. This reduces the overall idle time of each of the aforementioned storage/recording units.