Abstract: A printing machine that records information about conditions of the machine while carrying out a printing request. The recorded resource information includes information about color calibration tables or machine process temperatures that may affect the appearance of a printed job depending on the value of the conditions at a particular time. Subsequently, before carrying out another printing request, the printing machine compares the conditions of a machine, to satisfy the next printing request, to the recorded information to permit an operator to predict whether a job will reprint with acceptable accuracy.

Abstract: The purpose of the Virtual Copier invention (“VC”) is to enable a typical PC user to add electronic paper processing to their existing business process. VC is an extension of the concept we understand as copying. In its simplest form it extends the notion of copying from a process that involves paper going through a conventional copier device, to a process that involves paper being scanned from a device at one location and copied to a device at another location. In its more sophisticated form, VC can copy paper from a device at one location directly into a business application residing on a network or on the Internet, or visa versa. The VC invention is software that manages paper so that it can be electronically and seamlessly copied in and out of devices and business applications (such as Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes) with an optional single-step Go operation.

Abstract: This invention is to make it unnecessary for a user to input all codes for identifying information, and reduce cumbersomeness and input error in code input. For example, to generate a code that means predetermined processing such as acquisition of specific information or acquisition of specific mail data, a user inputs, through a service terminal, a number section predetermined for the information to be acquired. The service terminal automatically generates the code of a classification section and attaches it to the number section input by the user. The number section and classification section, which are integrated, are output to a service server as a code.

Abstract: A computer implemented method by which a user edits and delivers a print job in a computer system, the method including providing a printing software object as a COM component for editing and delivering a print job and providing job data of the print job to the printing software object, by a print job creator, in the form of references to pages. The references to pages are used by the software printing object, to call and display the pages on a need basis. The user edits the job data of the print job based on the displayed pages and the print job is delivered for processing in accordance with the edited job data.

Abstract: A process for printing in network system which includes a printer server with a network printer card, and at least a client connected to the printer server by network is provided. According to the present invention, when power is supplied to the printer server, the network address of an agent client for temporarily storing print data of the client which requires printing operation while the printer server is in printing operation is firstly detected. Then, it is checked whether the printer server is in printing operation or not when the printing operation is required from the client. If the printer server is in printing operation, a print-rejection message and the network address of the agent client is transmitted to the print operation-requiring client. When presently performed printing operation is completed, the print data stored in the agent client is printed.

Abstract: A printer for printing a second interface onto a second surface, in response to first indicating data received from a sensing device in the form of a stylus. The first indicating data is sensed by the stylus from first coded data. A first interface is disposed on a first surface, and includes the first coded data. The printer includes an input module and a printing module. The input module is configured to receive the first indicating data from the stylus, the first indicating data being at least partially indicative of response data. The input module generates second indicating data based on the first indicating data, the second indicating data being at least partially indicative of the response data. The second indicating data is sent to a computer system. The printing module includes a printing mechanism configured to receive the response data from the computer system. The second interface is based at least partially on the response data.

Abstract: The disclosure relates to methods and apparatus for handling error occurrences in an image outputting system. The system comprises plural multifunction peripherals (MFPs) for printing a document. Each MFP is communicatively coupled to a single control unit, the control unit being communicatively coupled to a computer workstation on a computer network. The control unit receives a print job from the computer workstation and then sends the print job to one or more hard output units. The control unit monitors the status of the print job with respect to each MFP to determine whether an error is present in any of the MFPs. If the control unit detects an error, it waits a predetermined time period to provide a user time to fix the error. If the user does not fix the error within the predetermined time period, the control unit then polls the status of the remaining MFPs to determine whether any other MFPs are error-free. The control unit then sends the print job to one or more of the error-free MFPs.

Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, a black edge of a document image is emphasized, and the black edge is detected by deciding an edge from the lightness data and by deciding a black color from the chroma data. The data of cyan, magenta and yellow of a pixel at a black edge are replaced with minima of data of cyan, magenta and yellow of pixels in a prescribed region around the pixel. In order to prevent erroneous decision of a black edge, if a number of isolated pixels is larger than a threshold level, a decision as a pixel at a black edge is invalidated. Automatic exposure can be performed on a color document for correcting a background of the document obtained in a prescan. The background level of the document is determined only on pixels decided to be black. When color balance is adjusted on one of the data of cyan, magenta, yellow and black, the density is kept constant.

Abstract: In an image processing system in which an image processing apparatus and an image forming apparatus are connected via a serial bus, to print, at a high speed, a plurality of types of image data isochronously transferred from the image processing apparatus, a large-capacity memory for correcting the timing for each of the plurality of types of image data becomes necessary, resulting in an increase in cost. In this invention, in an image processing system in which a computer and a plurality of printers are connected via a serial bus, the computer acquires printer device information and efficiently acquires channels for isochronous transfer on the serial bus on the basis of whether channels can be shared by image data of a plurality of colors to be transferred to the printer.

Abstract: A compact transactional document-scanning terminal that provides the means to conveniently capture an electronic image of most forms of printed documents at distributed locations, to capture either automatically from the scanned document or manually by operator interactivity all necessary process parameters or codes, to perform an electronic transaction in order to forward all the information to a remote computer or alternatively for local storage within the terminal, and to produce an electronic receipt and/or a paper receipt as a proof that the scan and store transaction has been successful and for later retrieval of information associated with the scanned document. The compact transactional document-scanning terminal may be configured to respond to various customer specifications.

Abstract: A user's point of departure (Airport A) and point of arrival (Airport B) are read from boarding-ticket information that has been recorded on an airplane boarding ticket. Areas indicating the departure and arrival points that have been read are displayed on a display screen and the user designates the airport at which printed images are to be picked up. The printing of the images is ordered at the point of departure. When the user reaches the airport that is the designated point of arrival, the ordered images will have already been printed and, hence, the user picks up the prints at the arrival point. This makes it possible to pick up prints immediately at a point along one's journey.

Abstract: A method of providing print job attributes for later access before printing of the job includes collecting and storing print job attributes of the print job in a manner that makes them accessible for viewing. The attributes may later be viewed in response to a user query of a stored print job. From the attributes, a user can determine when and whether the stored print job should be printed. The collected attributes may also be used to determine the order of printing jobs stored in a print queue.

Abstract: A printer filter including a companion script file and which filters a standard printer data stream to perform a user-specified print job. In particular, the filter is a computer program which may access other programs or data files, and which reads a standard printer data stream, transforms the input in accordance with instructions contained within the computer program, and then outputs the filtered or transformed information to the printer. The present invention also provides a graphical user interface to assist a user in operating the computer program. In particular, the graphical user interface includes a parent window having a display control which list a possible filters to be selected, along with a plurality of other display controls to assist the user in operating the computer program product.

Abstract: For a personalized printed product that contains graphical elements, a data template in which instructions for operating on a graphical element are encoded. The data template can include the name of an executable computer program for accessing and downloading in order to generate the personalized printed product. Alternately, the data template can include source code that can be compiled and run by a computer, or machine code that is ready for execution. In a preferred embodiment, the data template is an XML file.

Abstract: In a printing apparatus in which a part of the execution program is downloaded from the host computer, the invention allows the user to easily known the copyright information of the execution program and to select the use of such copyright. The host computer sends print data to the laser beam printer constituting the printing apparatus and downloads a part of the execution program. At the same time, the copyright information and the license information of the execution program are transmitted to the laser beam printer. The control unit of the laser beam printer processes the data based on the execution program, thereby recording the data on the recording sheet, and displays the copyright information and license information on the operation panel. Observing the display, the user selects whether or not to obtain the license by the operation panel.

Abstract: Methods and systems for increasing the likelihood of print job completion are described. In one embodiment, an automated method is described in which a print job is initiated at a first of multiple printing devices that are communicatively linked with one another. The printing devices can be the same type or different types of printing devices. Using the first printing device, the print job is monitored for completion. In the event that the print job is unable to be completed at the first printing device, the printing device automatically attempts to re-route at least a portion of the print job to one or more of the multiple printing devices. In this manner, completion of the print job can be assured with a greater degree of likelihood. Additionally, user messages can be generated by one or more of the printing devices that notify a user that initiated a print job as to the location of the various printed portions of the print job.

Abstract: A printer configuration update system and method provide automatic updates of a printer configuration to a communicating device which may be a network interface card and/or a protocol converter. A configuration listing with a predetermined format is transmitted to the communicating device at the time of power-up of the printer and after any configuration changes. The configuration listing may be passed as a variable-length structure consisting of ordered fields containing codes recognizable by the communicating device. The new configuration may be a new printer coming on-line or may be a modification to an existing printer occurring during operation of the printer. Newly developed printers may thus be connected to the communicating device without having to reprogram the new printer configuration into the printer or the communicating device, and current printer configuration data may be transmitted to a protocol converter during operation for accurate data stream conversion.

Abstract: In order to improve the processing speed of an image processing apparatus including a plurality of image processors processing input image data divisionally in parallel, determination is made whether the document image is a color document or a black-and-white document. In the case of a color document, respective R, G and B data are processed by a plurality of MPUs. In the case of a black-and-white document, the image data is stored in a data storage memory, and then divided into three to be processed by the plurality of MPUs. The image data processed by the plurality of MPUs is recorded in a data storage memory as one image data.

Abstract: A computer implemented printer control system includes memory configured to provide an operating system and operative to store files representing at least one document to be printed and a display configured to provide an image of a graphical user interface in a viewing window. The graphical user interface is configured to allow user selection and modification of print engine options for printing the document. The control system also includes processing circuitry configured to display, in the graphical user interface, a list of user-selectable printing features including a status feature, with the status feature selected, in response to a command to execute a print job and display a current status of the print job together with the list.

Abstract: Push printing from internet sources to a set top box through a cable head end connected to the set top box by a digital cable network. Push printing includes printing by unicast (point-to-point) printing from a remote internet source to a specifically designated printer connected to a specifically addressed set top box, multicast (one-to-many) printing from a single remote web source to multiple ones of printers connected to respective set top boxes, and one-to-group printing from a single remote web source to a group of set top boxes defined at the cable head end. Both unicast and multicast printing are accomplished from the remote internet site to a cable head end connected to the internet, with the cable head end transmitting the print job via a digital cable network to subscriber set top boxes. Notification of print status is provided from the set top box back to the cable head end, thereby allowing the cable head end to provide notification of successful printout back to the remote internet site.