Abstract: System, method, and software of providing a printing service. In one embodiment, a printing system comprises a cloud printing service that stores device capability information for different types of printers supervised by a print server. The cloud printing service receives a print job, identifies a plurality of the printers that are capable of printing the print job based on the device capability information, and transforms printable content and control data of the print job into a plurality of printer-specific print streams. Each of the printer-specific print streams is in a printable output format for one of the plurality of the printers. The cloud printing service provides one or more of the printer-specific print streams to the print server.

Abstract: Provided is technology by which an information processing device having an OS standard general-purpose print program installed therein reduces unevenness in print quality due to a printer-specific characteristic. According to an auxiliary program available for printing using a printer connected to a PC, the PC acquires characteristic data indicative of a characteristic specific to the printer from the printer, and stores the acquired characteristic data in a memory. Further, when a print instruction for causing the printer to execute printing of an image is sent to a general-purpose print program installed in advance in an OS, the PC generates corrected print data corrected based on the characteristic data stored in the memory, for an image that is a print target of the print instruction, and outputs the generated corrected print data such that the generated corrected print data is transmitted from the PC to the printer.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus includes circuitry. The circuitry extracts a colorimetric area from an image formation area based on designation according to an operation by a user, the image formation area in which an image as a print target is to be formed. The circuitry calculates a color difference between a first page and a second page subsequent to the first page based on a colorimetric value in the extracted colorimetric area and to determine whether to continue printing according to the calculated color difference.

Abstract: A printer has a print engine to print images represented by a series of print data on the plurality of printing areas one by one. When an image printed on the printing area is determined to be a low quality image, the controller stops printing and reprint an image corresponding to the low quality image and images corresponding to discard-target images which are being printed or having been printed on the printing areas located upstream in the feeding direction with respect to the printing area on which the NG image has been printed on a new printing area located upstream in the feeding direction with respect to a printing position of the print engine in an order of the print data. The particular image printer is configured to overprint the particular image on the printing area on which the NG image or the discard-target image is printed.

Abstract: In a case where an inspection level to be used in determining quality of an image of an inspected surface of a printed sheet is set based on a comparison between a captured image resulting from imaging the inspected surface and a reference image, a plurality of inspection regions varying in inspection level is set for the reference image. In a case where an overlap region is present in the plurality of inspection regions, an inspection level of the overlap region is identified based on a predetermined priority. Further, the identified inspection level of the overlap region is displayed.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus (10) for evaluating the chromatic discriminability of content includes: a unit (S12) that converts the color space values of each of first and second verification points A and B on the content into Lab color space values; a unit (S13) that calculates the color difference and the lightness difference between the first and second verification points based on the Lab color space values; and a unit (S23, S24) that determines color-difference discriminability by comparing the color difference between the first and second verification points with a color-difference threshold, and determines lightness-difference discriminability by comparing the lightness difference between the first and second verification points with a lightness-difference threshold.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes an input interface, a communication interface, and a processor. The input interface is configured to receive settings related to a print failure report. The communication interface is configured to facilitate communication with an image forming apparatus and a destination of the print failure report identified in the settings. The processor is configured to selectively execute a print mode for transmitting designated print data of a print object to the image forming apparatus and a report mode for transmitting print data for reporting including print log information to the destination based on the settings.

Abstract: A method of operating an image forming apparatus includes receiving a request to perform an image forming operation, performing a calibration operation based on obtained urgency level information in response to the request, when a condition to perform a calibration is determined to be satisfied, the urgency level indicating a level of urgency to perform the image forming operation and the calibration is to standardize standardizing color representation of the image to be formed, and performing the image forming operation after the calibration operation is performed.

Abstract: A print management device includes a control unit that performs a control for displaying of information indicating a spare capacity of at least one printing device based on a print plan and a print status of the at least one printing device that is performing printing. The print plan is derived based on capability information of the at least one printing device.

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for handling print data. One embodiment is a system that includes an interface that receives rasterized print data, a memory that stores the rasterized print data; and a print controller that compresses each scanline of the rasterized print data by culling a region of leading whitespace, culling a region of trailing whitespace, compressing a data region disposed between the leading whitespace and the trailing whitespace, and inserting a tag having whitespace offset information for the data region within the scanline.

Abstract: In an image forming apparatus, in a case that a connected numerical key unit is a dedicated numerical key unit including a numerical key portion for executing, as predetermined processing, numerical value input processing for inputting information on a numerical value and including an operation key portion and a setting key portion for executing, as predetermined processing, another input processing for inputting information on an operation of the image forming apparatus other than the numerical value input processing (step S12; YES), a controller executes the predetermined processing in a case that either of the respective key portions is operated (step S13). On the other hand, in a case that the connected numerical key unit is a general-purpose numerical key unit different from the dedicated numerical key unit (step S1; NO), the controller executes the predetermined processing only in a case that the numerical key portion is operated (step S14).

Abstract: An information processing apparatus is configured to communicate with a server system with information about a first printing apparatus registered therein. The information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit to acquire information about a first printing apparatus registered as a default printing apparatus in the server system, a storage unit to store information about a second printing apparatus to perform communication not using the server system, as information about the default printing apparatus to be used, a determination unit to determine which of the stored information about the second printing apparatus and the acquired information about the first printing apparatus is to be displayed as information about the default printing apparatus, and a display unit to display the information about the default printing apparatus based on a result of the determination by the determination unit.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes a memory and a processor configured to change an operation mode between a first operation mode and a second operation mode depending on preset time frames, set the time frames in response to an operation performed via a network by an administrative user having administration authority, and change a current operation mode to the first operation mode or the second operation mode in response to an operation input by a general user on an operation panel of the information processing apparatus.

Abstract: An information processing apparatus includes circuitry. The circuitry generates an abnormal end file in response to an occurrence of an abnormal end of a process being executed, the abnormal end file indicating an occurrence state of the abnormal end, extracts a part of information from the generated abnormal end file, writes the extracted information as abnormal information in a memory, reads the abnormality information from the memory, and displays the abnormality information on a display.

Abstract: An image reading device and an image forming apparatus. The image reading device includes an image reader to read an image of a document, and a color reference component arranged to face the image reader. In the image reading device, the image reader reads the color reference component at a prescribed timing to obtain color reference image data, and correction data generating processes are executed based on the obtained color reference image data to generate correction data used to correct data of the image read by the image reader. In the image reading device, wherein the color reference component is moved relative to the image reader in a direction orthogonal to a direction toward and away from the image reader. The image forming apparatus includes the image reading device, and an image is formed on a recording material based on data of the image read by the image reading device.

Abstract: An image forming apparatus capable of coping with speedup of a printing operation without requiring a design change of a controller is provided. The image forming apparatus includes an image generating unit configured to generate image data, an image forming unit configured to control image formation based on the image data, a storage unit that is provided between the image generating unit and the image forming unit and temporarily stores the image data, a first connecting unit that connects the image generating unit and the storage unit and performs transferring of the image data at a first operating frequency, and a second connecting unit that connects the storage unit and the image forming unit and performs transferring of the image data at a second operating frequency higher than the first operating frequency. When a predetermined data amount is accumulated in the storage unit, the accumulated image data is transferred to the image forming unit.

Abstract: In a printing system, a smartphone reads a printer ID and transmits a smartphone's print command that includes the read printer ID and a user ID to a server; the server transmits a server's print command that includes the printer ID included in the received smartphone's print command to an office PC associated with the user ID included in the received smartphone's print command; the office PC creates print data based on the print job received from the server, according to the received server's print command; and a printer performs printing according to the received print data.

Abstract: A control method for an information processing apparatus which comprises a memory that stores a graphical user interface (GUI) application capable of providing a GUI in a case where a driver that does not have a function of providing a GUI is selected, the control method includes causing the GUI application to acquire drawing data generated by a drawing application, acquiring, by the GUI application, at least either of data including information indicating a setting and data including information indicating a capability of the driver, and providing, the GUI application, a first display item.

Abstract: A printing apparatus includes a control unit configured to generate color chart data, a transport unit configured to intermittently transport a medium, a printing unit configured to print a colorimetric patches on a processing unit region, a drying unit configured to dry the processing unit region, and a colorimetric unit configured to measure a color of the colorimetric patches in the processing unit region subjected to the drying, wherein the control unit is configured to acquire, based on a printing setting, a drying holding time during which the processing unit region is held at the drying unit, calculate a color-measurable patch number which is measurable by the colorimetric unit within the drying holding time, and generate the color chart data for printing a number of the colorimetric patches in the processing unit region, the number being less than or equal to the color-measurable patch number.

Abstract: A printing system including a printer that sends a printed print medium to a post-processing machine is provided with: a job sorting unit that sorts a plurality of jobs into a plurality of groups; a required printing time calculation unit that calculates a required printing time per set required for printing for each job; a short job determination unit that determines, as a short job, a job for which the required printing time is shorter than a minimum processing time that is a minimum time required for processing for one set in the post-processing machine; and a job group generation unit that generates, on the basis of a plurality of jobs sorted into the same group, a job group obtained by grouping standard jobs (jobs not determined as short jobs) and a job group obtained by grouping short jobs.